Friday, November 9, 2007

Rally at the Fox

Well today marked the last day of the first week of the Writer's Guild of America strike. In both New York and Los Angeles, guild members rallied around buildings owned by the Fox Corporation, in an effort to make their voices heard as they continue to demand a fair contract.

The LA gang of writers met in front of the Fox Plaza -- right by the Fox Studio lot in Century City. It was a sight to be seen -- over three thousand folks were there I'd say. In about the first five minutes I was there, I caught glimpses of Judd Apatow, the actress who played Andrea in Beverly Hills 90210, Kelsey Grammer, a couple of the guys from It's Sunny in Philadelphia, and others. Sorry to disappoint, but I'm not a paparazzi -- so I don't have any photos of these famous folks. The only people I did feel comfortable photographing were a couple of the Reno 911 guys, because they were in costume. The Screen Actors Guild has stood in solidarity with the WGA, and all sorts of stars have come to march the picket lines with their writer colleagues.

During the first hour of the rally there were speakers for about an hour (by the president of both the WGA and SAG) and then for the second hour people moved down to the main Fox entrance to picket/protest. The cops even closed off the street for us and everything. Here's a look at the writers taking to the streets...

There were some other unusual aspects to the rally -- such as the fact that major agencies located just down the street sent their assistants out, all dressed up, to serve up churros (and other sweets) on platters to the protesters. I guess this is their way of trying to convince the writers they support their cause. That or they're just trying to ingratiate themselves with big names present in the hopes of luring them to their agency after this war is over.

Behold the churros...

There was also a young thin blonde woman in a scandalously short dress walking around with a large sign that simply read "Day 5." Not sure if this was at the behest of an agency, or if she was merely an entrepreneurial young actress trying to get her face, and ahem, other particulars seen.

Here are some photos as the crowds moved down to Pico (which is a major street in LA, for those of you not familiar) where the front of the studio is located.

You can get a peek inside the Fox Lot in this shot.

And that wraps up this week's reporting on the strike. Stay tuned for next week as (barring further negotiations -- which as of now there are none scheduled) I continue to man the picket line, and drive around, snapping photos of other picket locales.

Also, for those of you who wish to get a better idea of the issues at hand, here's a neat little video that some writers made to explain what is what.